Proof of Murder (Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery #4) - Lauren Elliott Page 0,95

So far, all she’d done was dump the contents of the puzzle box on the table and turn them over to check shape and color. She still had no idea how they fit together.

A car horn beeped behind her. She glanced in the rearview mirror and waved at a man in the car behind her, angrily shaking his fist. She clicked on her signal light, stepped on the gas, and made a left turn.

A few minutes later, she slid into a parking space across the street from Hill Road House. A moving van was parked in front of the gate. What to do, what to do? She should get back to her shop, but on the other hand, Blake said they’d be finished up in the house today. This might be the last opportunity she’d have to get inside to test out a few of her theories. Surely being away from the shop for a few more minutes couldn’t hurt, could it?

She groaned and rapped her forehead on the steering wheel. She had better give Marc a call and tell him everything she’d discovered so far and what she’d overheard between Blake and Philip. He was always lecturing her about staying out of investigations and letting the police do their job. This time she’d do just that. She fished her phone out of her tote and started to dial his number—but stopped, toying with her phone in her hand.

If this had been before he left town in February, she would have called him. He would have told her she had no proof, that they were only guesses and suspicions. Yadda-yaddaing on about how theories can’t convict anyone of a crime, only evidence could. She would have mocked him back and, when all the pieces fell into place, he would have been grateful for her contribution. But now, with Ryley here . . . Will he even hear me out? She tapped her phone on the steering wheel. Nope, she’d first have to find the evidence he always went on about, and then maybe he’d listen to her. Exactly how she was going to do that, she had no idea, but it was now or never.

Chapter 31

Addie shoved her phone into the front pocket of her cropped jeans and put one foot on the pavement, only to snatch it back and slam the door shut. If she ran into Blake, she’d need an excuse for returning today. There was something about coming right out and asking Blake if he and Philip were running an insurance scam, and if by taking care of Duane McAdams they meant they killed him and/or his sister, that didn’t seem like a good plan. Her legs bounced. Her pulse raced. She had always been able to think fast on her feet. She only hoped that knack wouldn’t let her down today. She jumped out and hurried across the street to Hill Road House.

All the way up the sidewalk, Addie played out different scenarios on finding the evidence proving that Charlotte had been murdered, and that her death and the timing of the book thefts weren’t a coincidence. Simon had confirmed it was possible to scare someone to death. What Addie had to do now was prove what or who had brought on Charlotte’s heart attack.

Addie’s foot alighted on the first porch stair. Every groan of the wooden boards whispered the ghostly rumors, the horrid events in the house swirling under her feet. She swallowed. But she knew one thing now she didn’t know the first time her feet touched these steps: five people may have met their untimely demise here, but today she wasn’t hunting for ghosts. She was hunting for a flesh-and-blood thief and killer.

She stared blankly at the weather-worn mahogany door. She still needed an excuse to be back in the house today. Breathe, Addie, just breathe. Her lamp! She’d forgotten all about it. A sense of relief swept through her as she stepped into the wide foyer. The lamp was gone.

“Can I help you?” Two burly men, one redheaded, the other dark-haired, stood at the top of the staircase, an 1820s—by Addie’s quick appraisal of the color and shape of it—Biedermeier dresser, suspended between them.

“I was looking for the lamp I purchased. It was supposed to be here by the door for me to pick up.”

“Sorry, can’t help you.” The dark-haired man began a backward decent down the stairs.

This was her opening. “Did you happen to see if someone moved it up to